TITLE III. OF THE LEGISLATIVE POWER
Article 35
The legislative power is represented by a Parliament composed of two Chambers: The National Assembly and the Senate.
The members of the National Assembly carry the title of Deputy. They are elected for a term of five (5) years by direct universal suffrage.
The members of the Senate carry the title of Senator. Senators are elected for a term of six years by direct universal suffrage. They must be at least forty (40) years old. The Senate assures the representation of local collectivities.
The Chambers of Parliament may completely renew themselves at least one month and at most six months before the expiration of the current legislative term.
The Deputies’ term begins the day of the election of the members of the Bureau of the National Assembly, and finishes at the end of the fifth (5th) year following the election.
The Senators’ term begins the day of the election of the members of the Bureau of the Senate, and finishes at the end of the sixth (6th) year following the election.
No electoral district may be redrawn in the year preceding the normal elections of members for either of the Chambers.
Article 36
The Parliament votes on the law, approves tax policies and checks the power of the executive branch according to the conditions provisioned by the present Constitution.
Article 37
An organic law determines, for each of the Chambers, the number of Parliament members, their compensation, the terms and conditions of their election as well as the system determining ineligibility and incompatible positions or conditions.
The organic law equally determines the conditions in which the officials called upon to replace empty member seats before the next parliamentary elections may be elected, as well as the system determining ineligibility and incompatible positions or conditions.
Article 38
No member of Parliament may be prosecuted, investigated, arrested, detained or judged due to his or her own expressed opinions or votes related to the exercise of parliamentary duties.
No member may be, during the course of Parliamentary sessions, pursued, investigated or arrested on criminal or minor charges without the authorization of the Bureau of the Chamber concerned, except in cases of flagrant misconduct or definitive condemnation.
The detention or prosecution of a member of Parliament is suspended until the end of his or her term, unless parliamentary immunity has been lifted.
Article 39
All imperative mandates are nullified.
Nonetheless, in the case of the dismissal or exclusion, within the statutory conditions, of a member of Parliament from his or her political party at the moment of his or her election, if the party represented the member for his or her candidacy, that member’s seat will become vacant at the date of his or her demission or exclusion.
In such a case, a partial election will proceed within a two (2) day delay.
The Parliament members’ right to vote is individual.
The regulations of each Chamber authorize the exception of a delegated vote.
No member may delegate his or her vote more than once in one term.
Article 40
Each Chamber of Parliament will rightly convene on the first (1st) day following the fifteenth (15th) day after legislative elections. Their agenda will exclusively address the election of the President and the Bureau.
The presidents and other members of the Bureaus of the National Assembly and Senate are elected by their peers, for the duration of the current legislature’s term, by secret vote, conforming to the conditions of the regulations of the relevant Chamber.
At any moment, after their entry into office, the concerned Chamber may dismiss its President and other members of the Chamber’s Bureau, following a vote of disapprobation with an absolute majority.
Article 41
The Parliament will rightly reunite in two (2) sessions per year.
The first session will open the first business day in March and ends, at the latest, the last business day of June.
The second session will open the first business day of September and ends, at the latest, the last business day of December.
Article 42
The Parliament will rightfully convene during the duration of a state of siege and in the case provisioned by Article 26 above.
Article 43
The Chambers of Parliament will reunite in an exceptional session, summoned by their presidents, for a specific agenda at the demand of either the President of the Republic proposed by the Prime Minister, or the absolute majority of their members.
These exceptional sessions are opened and terminated by decree of the President of the Republic.
They may not exceed a duration of fifteen (15) days.
Article 44
Parliament’s sessions are public. A comprehensive report of Parliament’s debates is published in the Journal of Debates.
Each of the two (2) Chambers may, under the control of their respective Bureaus, release through public media a broadcast of their debates in the respect of pluralism, conforming to the dispositions of their regulations.
Each of the two (2) Chambers may welcome the President of the Republic, a Chief of State, or a member of a foreign government.
Each Chamber of Parliament may have in-camera sessions at the demand of either the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister or a fifth of the Chamber’s members.
Article 45
Each Chamber of Parliament votes on their rules of operation, which may take effect after Constitutional Court recognizes the legitimacy of their rules. Any further modifications must also be submitted to the Court’s scrutiny.
Article 46
Each Chamber of Parliament enjoys administrative and financial autonomy.
